Automatic door-releasing device.



C. E. LINDIG.

AUTOMATIC DOOR RELEASING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I8, 1915.

1, 167,085 Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

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C. E. LINDIG.

AUTOMATIC DOOR RELEASING DEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED um. 18, m5.

1,167,085, Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

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QM Jf W11, J an CHARLES E. LINDIG,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC DOOR-RELEASING DEVICE.

Application filed January 18, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that 1, Cinemas E. LINDIG,

a. citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county ofBronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Door Releasing Devices, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to electrically operated door releasing devicessuch. as are used in apartment houses for unlocking the vestibule doorsfrom any of the apartments.

It is common practice to place in the vestibule of an apartment or flathouse, a series of call buttons for operating bells in the severalapartments or flats, and to place in each apartment or flat a button foroperating a bolt releasing device on the vestibule door. A caller stepsinto the vestibule and presses the call button of the apartment to whichhe desires access, thereby ringing the bell in said apartment and thusnotifying'the occupants thereof that some one is waiting in thevestibule for admittance. The occupants must then press the button whichoperates the door opener in order to admit the caller into the hall,after which the entrance door to the individual apartment must be openedwhen the caller has reached it. It has been found to be somewhat of anuisance for the occupants of apartments to have to stop and go to thedoor releasing button every time their call bell is rung, and it is theobject of my present invention to provide automatic means for operatingthe door releaser each time the call bell is rung, thereby saving theoccupants of the apartment from the necessity of pressing a button forthis purose.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention will be first hereinafter described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, which constitute a part of this specification,and then more specifically defined in the claims at the end of thedescription.

In. the accompanying drawings, wherein similar referencecharacters areused to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the circuits from a series ofcall buttons in the vestibule and automatic door releaser on the door tothe combined Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

Serial No. 2,923.

alarm and circuit closer, one of which is arranged in each apartment.Fig. 2 is a front view of the interior works of the combined beil andcircuit closer, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the apparatus illustratedin Fig.

In Fig. 1, A designates the inner vestibule door of an apartment houseequipped vith a door releaser B of any suitable known type, while (.3,C, C 0 and C indicate the call buttons for live apartments, whichbuttons are arranged in the vestibule. The automatic alarm and circuitcloser for one of the apartments is designated D in Fig. 1. Inasmuch asthe circuits from all. of the call buttons to the circuit closers andbells in the several apart ments, and from said circuit closers andbells to the door releasing device on the vestibule door are the same,the circuits to and from one of said circuit closers and bells aresufficient to illustrate them all, and the circuit from the call buttonC to the circuit closer D, and the circuit from said circuit closer tothe door opening device B are, therefore, all I have deemed it necessaryto show in the drawings. The circuit from the call button C to thecombined alarm and circuit closer D, for automatically operating thedoor releaser B when said call button is pushed, includes the Wire orconductor E from the call button to a binding post E on said circuitcloser, and wires or conductors F and G from opposite poles of a batteryor generator H, connected respectively to the call button C and to abinding post G on the circuit closer. The circuit from the circuitcloser D to the door releasing device B includes a wire or conductor Kleading from said door releasing device to a binding post K on thecasing of the circuit closer, and the Wires or conductors L and G fromopposite poles of the generator H to the door releasing device B and thebinding post G, respectively.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, M designates an electric magnet and Nthe armature thereof which is made as a part of a lever O which ispivoted at o and has a tooth a at its opposite endfor a purpose to bepresently explained. To the armature N, there is connected a hook Pwhich normally extends into the path of a fan Q. constituting a part ofan ordinary spring motor of the clock movement type which also includesa power spring R adapted to be wound up by means of a key (not shown)applied to the stud r in the usual way. One of the shafts of the motoris extended and carries on its projected portion S a notched disk T, aninterrupted gear T and a smooth disk T all of which are adapted to turnwith said shaft. The tooth 0 on the lever O normally rests in or engagesone of the notches t in the periphery of the disk T. A contact piece orbrush U engages the periphery of the smooth disk T at all times, whileanother contact piece or brush U extends into the path of theinterrupted teeth or cogs t on the interrupted gear T, but stands awayfrom the body of the gear between said teeth or cogs. A wire orconductor E leads from the binding post EC to the magnet M, and a wireor conductor V leads from the magnet to a vibrator V which is in contactwith the lever O. A wire or conductor G connects the binding post G tothe contact piece or brush U, which is in contact with the smooth disk TThe lever O carries a clapper V adapted to strike the gongs W when thecircuit is closed through the magnet M. This circuit is closed each timethe call button C is pressed and may be traced from said call buttonthrough. wire E to binding post E, through wire E to the magnet M,through wire V and vibrator V to lever 0, through tooth 0, disk T, shaftS and disk T to brush U, through wire G to binding post G, through wireG to generator H and through wire F back to the call button C. When thecircuit through the magnet is thus closed, the hook P is moved with thearmature N so as to release the fan Q, and at the same time the tooth 0is raised out of the notch t in the disk T, whereupon the spring of thedisk T and consequently holding the hook P on the other end of the lever0 out of the path of the fan Q. As soon as the tooth 0 drops into theother notch t of the disk T, the hook P will rise into the path of thefan and stop the motor. While the motor is in operation and the disk Tis traveling a half revolution from one of its notches to the other, theinterrupted gear T will also turn a half revolution and cause thesection of teeth or cogs between the notches 25, Fig. 2, to move pastthe contact piece or brush U which extends into the path of said teethor cogs as already explained. Each time the contact piece or brush isengaged by one of the teeth or cogs, the circuit will be closed to thedoor releasing device B and the bolt of the vestibule door A released.This circuit to the door releasing device may be traced from said devicethrough wire K to bindingpost K, through wire K to brush U, throughinterrupted gear T, shaft S and disk T to brush U, through wire G tobinding post G, through wire G to generator H, and through wire L backto the door releasing device B. The provision of a series of teeth orcogs between the notches t causes the door releasing device B to beoperated several times at any one of which times the door may be openedjust the same as if a controlling butt-on were pressed several times asin the old arrange ment hereinbefore mentioned. This inter mittentoperation of the door releasing device B makes a ticking sound whichattracts the callers attention, so that he can easily open the doorduring one of the series of periods when the circuit for operating saiddoor releaser is closed. WVhile I have shown only two notches in thedisk T, it will be understood that any number may be used that may befound to best suit the requirements in each case. The number of teeth orcogs in each group on the interrupted gear T may also be varied, ifdesired.

The invention may be used to advantage in a doctors office as well as inan apartment house, the door releasing device B being attached to thedoor of the waiting room in that instance, so that callers may beadmitted without necessitating the doctor or his assistant stopping togo to the door. At the same time, the doctor will be notified by theringing of the bell when any one comes in. When the invention is used inapartment houses, it will be found to be a security against burglars,for the door releasing device will be operated to release the vestibuledoor whether there is any one at home or not and the burglar will,therefore, be afraid to attempt to force open the individual doors toany of the apartments, whereas under the old arrangement, if he presseda call button and received no response, he would know that nobody was athome in that particular apartment and that he could force an entrancewithout interference.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination witha door releasing device and a call bell, of means for automaticallyoperating said door releasing device a plurality of times after the bellis rung.

2. The combination with a door releasing device and a call bell, of amotor to be set in motion when the bell is rung, and means operated whensaid motor is running and after the bell has been rung for automaticallyactuating said door releasing device.

3. The combination with a door releasing device and a call bell, of amotor to be set in motion when the bell is rung, and means forautomatically actuating said door releasing device a plurality of timeswhile the motor is running and after the bell has been rung.

4. The combination with a door releasing device, of a spring motor,means for starting said motor, and means for actuating said doorreleasing device when the motor is running.

5. The combination with a door releasing device, of a normally opencircuit to said device, a spring motor having means for closing saidcircuit when running, and means controlled from outside the door forstarting said motor.

6. The combination with a door releasing device, of a normally openedcircuit through said device, a motor having means for closing saidcircuit when running, a push button outside the door, means for startingsaid motor, including an electric magnet, and a circuit from the buttonto the magnet.

7 The combination with a door releasing device, of a motor, a pair ofdisks connected up to run with said motor, one having a smoothuninterrupted periphery and the other having notches in its periphery,an interrupted gear also mounted to run with the motor, a brush engagingthe periphery of the smooth disk, another brush extending into the pathof the teeth on the interrupted gear, a circuit from the door releasingdevice including said brushes, a movable stop normally engaging one ofthe notches in the notched disk, and means for removing said stop fromthe notch for the purpose specified.

8. The combination with a door releasing device, of a motor, a pair ofdisks connected up to run with said motor, one disk having a Smoothuninterrupted periphery and the other disk having notches in itsperiphery, an interrupted gear also mounted to run with the motor, abrush engaging the periphery of the smooth disk, another brush extendinginto the path of the teeth on the interrupted gear, a circuit from thedoor releasing device including said brushes, a movable stop normallyengaging one of the notches in the notched disk, a call button outsidethe door, an electric magnet, an armature therefor connected to saidstop and adapted to move the latter out of the notch in the notched diskwhen said armature is drawn to the magnet, and a circuit from the buttonto the magnet for energizing the latter when the button is pressed.

9. The combination with a door releasing device, of a motor, means foractuating said door releasing device when the motor is running, anelectric magnet, an armature therefor, a stop mounted on the armaturefor normally retaining the motor from running, a button outside thedoor, and a circuit from the button to the magnet for energizing thelatter when the button is pressed and releasing said stop when thearmature is drawn to the magnet.

10. The combination with a door releasing device, of a motor, means foractuating said door releasing device when the motor is running, anelectric magnet, a bell, a lever, a clapper carried by said lever, anarmature attached to the lever, a vibrator also attached to the lever, astop mounted on the armature for normally retaining the motor fromrunning, a button outside the door, and a circuit from the button to themagnet for energizing the latter when the button is pressed forsimultaneously releasing the motor from the stop and ringing the bell.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of tWo attesting witnesses.

CHARLES E. LINDIG.

Witnesses:

WM. M. CHRISTIE, A. HAEGEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

